Popo and Nana won’t be in Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS.

With so much information filtering out about the next Smash Bros., once question lingered in the back of many fans. Where are the Ice Climbers?

The Ice Climbers couple were removed from the character roster of Super Smash Bros for both the 3DS and Wii U due to the lack of hardware power of the handheld.

Many are familiar with these two characters due to their unique character buddy fighting system. In comparison to others characters, both fought in unison and were dependent on one another. Popo and Nana were playable in both Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube and Smash Bros. for Wii U, so it didn’t seem hard to imagine they’d make a return in the new upcoming Smash Bros.

According to the latest issue of Famitsu Sakurai confirmed that the couple were originally playable in earlier Wii U builds but since the 3DS and Wii U both share the same character roster, Popo and Nana were removed. Given that there were no Ice Climbers games currently in planned made the decision to remove them that much easier.

Don’t get confused for the reason they these classic Ice Climbers were cut from the Smash Bros roster. This is not a reflection of the power of the Wii U as the Wii U is more than capable at handling the resources that would be needed the addition of an extra character being controlled by one single player. This is a reflection the Nintendo 3DS hardware and Nintendo’s attempt at creating a unified Smash Bros. experience across the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

I do have to wonder if somewhere down the line, that some coder will actually find the Ice Climber character data and unofficially make Popo and Nana playable.